The early history of tea centers around China, even though the tea plant (in varying forms) is indigenous to both southwestern China and the Assam region
of India (and many other places in southeastern Asia). It is puzzling that the Chinese made such thorough use of the plant, from the days of antiquity, while the Indians did not. There are few references to the use of tea in India until about the sixth century, and even then, usage of the plant was not widespread. It is during this period, however, that one of the most famous of all legends about tea is said to have occurred. It happened like this: Prince Bodhidharma (also known as Pu Tai Ta-Mo in Chinese, and Daruma Daishi in Japanese) grew up near Madras, India, in the Sardilli family, in the fifth century. He was a wealthy and favored young prince. When he was a young man, he came upon the teachings of Buddha and thereafter dedicated his life to study and meditation. He studied for many years and became so skilled and knowledgeable that, in 470 , he was asked to travel to China to reintroduce Buddhism. (Buddhism had reached China 600 years before this time, but had begun to die out there.) It is known that
Bodhidharma traveled first to Canton in 470 and that in 520 he traveled to
northern China, where he was granted an interview with the Liang emperor, Wu- Ti. This emperor was noted for his good works and was eager to speak with Bodhidharma, for he felt sure that the monk would tell him that he was well on his way to enlightenment. When Bodhidharma said that enlightenment could not be obtained through merit, Wu-Ti apparently was not pleased and left the
interview in great confusion.
Leaving the emperor, Bodhidharma went to Loyang, crossed the Yang-tse River, then traveled up into the mountains of the Sung range to stay at the Shaolin temple. Legend says that to fulfill a vow, he spent nine years in
meditation in a small cave there. It is from this long meditation that many of the legends about Bodhidharma—and tea—originate.
Some versions of the legend say that Bodhidharma was looking at a wall in a cave for nine years, while others suggest that he simply vowed to do without sleep, giving his full attention to the meditation of Buddha. According to this version, after five years, his need for sleep became overpowering, and in
desperation to keep himself awake, he pulled leaves off a nearby bush and began chewing on them. Fortunately for him—and for us—or perhaps it was divinely ordained—the leaves came off a tea bush and were simultaneously stimulating and soothing, immediately reviving him. He used the leaves of this shrub over and over again until he was able to complete his vow.
Once the vow was complete, Bodhidharma is said to have turned his
attention to helping the monks of the temple. Not only did he introduce them to tea, to enable them to stay awake during long periods of meditation, but he also taught them physical techniques to strengthen the body to withstand the rigors of sitting long hours of meditation. This physical practice, also used as a form of self-defense against bandits and invading war lords, eventually grew into the martial arts style called kung fu.
Like many legends, this one has endless variations and inconsistencies. After all, as previously indicated, there are written records of tea being drunk for
centuries preceding the arrival of Bodhidharma in China. In some versions, the prince actually fell asleep during the years of his vow and was so disgusted with himself when he woke that he pulled off his eyelids so that they would never again close. Where he tossed these aside, the tea shrub began to grow. (The popular “eyebrow” tea, chun mee-cha , introduced in 1958 , has nothing to do with this eyelid legend, but instead refers to the curved “eyebrow” shape of the processed leaf.) Wherever tea actually originated, it was used as an aid to meditation among the Buddhist monks of Bodhidharma’s time. Because it was such an important meditation tool, and because meditation was such an essential part of the type of Buddhism that Bodhidharma preached (now known as Zen Buddhism), the spread of tea parallels the spread of Buddhism from China to other places in Asia.
CHAPTER 3
Tea in Ancient China and Korea
“Its liquor is like the sweetest dew of heaven.”
—Lu Yu, eighth-century tea master